Game Preview : Snoopy Flying Ace

View full sizeTwo cartoon characters throwing back a few brewskis. How else do you think they deal with Lucy? Here's a preview of Snoopy Flying Ace, just out for Xbox Live Arcade.

DOGFIGHT (LITERALLY)

The toughest hero in comics is coming to Xbox, and he will fight until his enemies are all defeated, or until Charlie Brown brings his supper dish.

Snoopy Flying Ace is out now for the Xbox Live Arcade. The game is playable for 10 bucks, or 800 Microsoft points if you're into that.

Download the game and you experience grizzled combat, comic strip style. It includes 10 maps to fly across and shoot things on, with 15 airplanes and 15 weapons.

One of the airplanes is the evil Red Baron. So when you play, feel free to sing the Royal Guardsmen song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron."

The song is from 1966. That's right. They had songs before you were born. YouTube it. Thank us later.

I never understood why or how a cartoon and comic strip dog was also a World War I combat pilot. Beetle Bailey never fights anybody, and the army is his job.

The best part of the game is you can play 11 other "Peanuts" cast members, including Sally and Woodstock. That Woodstock is a tough guy. Only Snoopy knows his name is Woodstock. No one else knows because Woodstock didn't feel like telling.

I don't want to play Charlie Brown in this game. He'll just get lured into a fight, then try to shoot at somebody, then they'll pull away at the last minute, and he'll fall and yell "Aaaaaaugh." Just like pilots did in World War I.

Joe Crowe is a copy editor for The Birmingham News. He also likes to call his car a Sopwith Camel. (Just humor him -- we do). Write to him at jcrowe@bhamnews.com.